Indian-Americans urge PM to table Lokpal Bill in Parliament

A group of Indian-Americans has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to meet the demands of social activist Anna Hazare by himself tabling the jan Lokpal Bill in the parliament.

"We hope you will take the call and retain the faith in parliament by yourself going ahead with tabling the jan Lokpal bill to end the deadlock. Whatever decisions you make today will be remembered in our history for generations to come," said a petition submitted to him at the Indian Embassy in Washington.

Holding their protest in support of Hazare for the sixth consecutive day, the group, including students from universities in and around Washington said corruption is the greatest hurdle in the progress of India.

"Since decades we have seen scandals after scandals, but no politician was ever punished or held accountable," they said, "Anti-corruption activist Shri Anna Hazare has entered sixth day of his 'anshan' and there is still a deadlock between the government and the civil society members. There have been no positive developments in the past few days."

"We along with Anna are quite clear what we want, but the government is still confused. Strong 'political will' to fight corruption is the need of the hour.

Government must come clean on it's intentions and at least table the bill in the parliament. We do have faith in our parliamentary system and are proud of our vibrant democracy, so what's the harm in at least tabling the bill? What's there in it for the government to lose?" the petition said.

"This movement has moved beyond Anna and jan Lokpal Bill. Middle class is rallying there for a cause which has been bothering them for decades. By placing a toothless bill, government 'intent' is exposed.

For days to come, we have to keep our finger crossed as a new history is in making!" said Vibhash Jha, a Ph.D student at the University of Maryland.